VOW says it has received very positive reactions to its latest training day from the resellers who attended.
The leading business products and facilities supplies wholesaler hosted the event, for members of its VOW Venture enhanced partner accreditation programme, at the Village Hotel Club, Solihull, West Midlands and almost 50 delegates attended.
Speakers included Anthony Stears, a leading expert on helping businesses improve customer service and increase sales via the phone, known as the Telephone Assassin, who delivered a three-hour workshop.
The day also featured Debbie Nice, VOW’s facilities supplies category director, delivering a presentation about this market. VOW recently announced it had seen a 10 per cent increase in facilities supplies sales during the first half of 2017, after investing £500,000 in this part of its business.
Four of the company’s suppliers also ran product training sessions at the Solihull gathering aimed at equipping the resellers with useful sales hints and tips: intelligent sound solution provider Jabra; business machine, record storage equipment and office accessory manufacturer Fellowes; personal and health care product specialist Kimberly Clark; and cleaning and related product manufacturer Robert Scott.
Anthony Stears’ session aimed to change the way attendees thought about telephone communication and motivate them to drive sales for their companies. It covered etiquette, obtaining permission to speak, call structure and techniques to retain control of conversations, among other topics.
The appearance followed Anthony’s delivery of workshops at similar VOW events in Leeds and London during April and May, which were hugely well-received.
Commenting on the Solihull event, attendee Sue Williams, of Hereford-based A4 Office Products, said: “The location was very central and the day’s format thoroughly enjoyable. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a course with VOW to anyone in the industry.”
Zena Vaghela, of PBS Office, based in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, said she felt training like this should happen regularly.
She said: “We all tend to go through the motions after a while and it’s nice to have that jolt to bring you back to the energetic sales person you were when you started. All-in-all, I would be happy to do another training day like this.”
Commenting on Anthony Stears’ performance, James Wood, of Woodco Office E quipment, based in Boston, Lincolnshire, said: “He was amazing. He made things very simple and easy to understand. I walked away from his talk with new ideas and a new way of thinking about my approach to cold calling. I also got a few tips on what to say in some situations, which helped a lot.”
VOW commercial and marketing director Heather McManus said the regular VOW Venture training days were now well-established and would continue. She said they underlined the company’s commitment to helping resellers drive sales and increase revenue wherever possible.
She added: “The involvement of Anthony Stears this year has enabled us to offer product and sales training under one roof for the first time, arming attendees with all the tools they need to sell successfully, and the reaction from resellers has been excellent.
“We’re delighted with this and will continue to seek new ways to make the training days even more attractive to resellers in the future.”
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